Deceit And Betrayal
by The Beetle
Summary: A few months after Kel's return from Scanra, a new batch of refugees from Goatstrack arrive at New Hope. Lord Raoul is called away to Fort Steadfast and the Own are up to their usual mischeif...but someone is not quite who they appear to be. UPDATED!
1. Dreams

**A.N Okay, you may recognise me from my reviews or you may recognise me as that random person who put your story on their favourites **

**This is my first fic in the TP realm so, please be nice and keep your chainsaws on a _low_ setting. This was first known as New Hope, but I changed the title to Shattered Sanctuary because I thought that it needed something a little more...original. I have also rewritten this chapter, so, if you've read this before and hated it, try it again now!**

**This is set a little while after Lady Knight and it _is _after Buri and Raoul's wedding**

**And finally, I can guarantee you that this wont be your average KD fic, it is going to get very, _very_ interesting...but you'll just have to read on to find out what happens! **

**Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns everything that is recognisable, the bad grammar and odd spelling mistakes are probably mine, **xD**.**

**Chapter 1:**

Dreams

_A lone horn sounded from the dark forest, it cried out in the silence for a moment before it was cut off sharply, the scout pole axed from his horse. The watch on the walls at New Hope quickly signaled the alarm, Scanran raiders had surrounded the camp._

_The commander of the camp watched from the main wall as her troops ran to raise the gates and man the battlements. It had been a month since the last attack on her camp and she had foolishly thought that they would be safe. _

_A flash of mail in the corner of her vision distracted her for a moment, thoughts of her friends flooding her mind. Neal had been among the first to fall, his magic of no use against a Scanran's lance. His father had wept over his son's body until an arrow bloomed from his back, another one to his temple following in quick succession. Kel had frozen in shock beside the bodies, endangering herself, until someone had grabbed her by the waist and dragged her down to sit against the wall._

_She felt numb, apart from everything that was happening around her. She sat, motionless, as the Scanran's flooded from the forest like oil across water. The walls were quickly overrun and the clang of sword fighting began to invade Kel's thoughts. She stayed detached from her surroundings until someone fell down in front of her, blood pooling before her from a wound in the man's side. Her heart shuddered as she realized that Dom was the man before her, clad in the mail of the Own and clinging to his bow which had fallen with him. He was with his uncle and cousin now, in the realms of the dead._

_Kel turned her eyes from Dom to see a raider stood over her, broadsword grasped in a two handed grip. This would be her end as well._

Kel gasped and bolted upright in her bed, thank the gods it had only been a dream. She had thought that her nightmares would be over when Blayce and Stenmun were in the realms of the dead, but they hadn't stopped, if anything they were worse.

She had just finished pulling on her breeches and a clean shirt when Tobe appeared in her room. He walked to a small cupboard to retrieve one of his daggers, more than likely to show it off to a friend. He paused as he turned to walk back out, a concerned look spread across his face as he examined Kel.

"Are you alright milady?" He asked, taking a step towards her.

Kel swallowed quickly and forced a smile onto her face. "I'm fine Tobe, I was only thinking." After a short pause she spoke again. "Why are you here? I thought that you were supposed to be helping the clerks to organize the new training groups this morning."

"I've already done them, we finished about a candle mark ago."

A frown spread itself across Kel's face, how could Tobe have finished a candle mark ago if she had only just gotten out of bed? She turned to look out her window and was surprised to see that the sun was halfway to its noon position, she had slept in.

Realizing that she was upsetting Tobe by staring into the distance for so long, Kel asked the only question that she could think to ask. "Since you've done the work that needed to be done, what are you going to do for the rest of the day?"

"Some people wanted a look at my dagger, I told 'em that I'm good with daggers."

"They'll be waiting for you then, it's best not to keep an audience waiting," Kel smiled. "Just don't go getting yourself into any trouble Tobe, I think you've been in quite enough trouble for one week after what happened with Fanche."

"I told you it wasn't my fault," Tobe protested but he had walked across the room to the door. "Mistress Fanche should have warned us the rocks outside the mess hall weren't for throwing."

"And you should have known better," Kel scolded, "now be off with you."

Tobe grinned and threw her a jaunty wave as he closed the door. He had grown quite a bit since Kel had rescued him, but even now he was still the shy, little boy that she had freed from slavery at a time that seemed like an age ago now. She laughed at herself for a moment, she was being silly, reminiscing about the past as if she had no present or future life.

She was jerked out of her thoughts for the second time that morning by a knock on her door. She stepped across the room and pulled the door open to find a messenger standing before her.

"Lady Keladry," the man started, "I have been told by Corporal Wolset of Third Company to tell you that there is a problem in the stables."

"Are you sure that's the whole message?"

"That's all that I was told," the messenger shifted and looked towards the stables, "I hope that this is not a joke for both of our sakes as I was about to set out to deliver some very important information to Fort Steadfast, if you would excuse me milady, I really must be on my way."

"Of course," Kel smiled, "I should go see what's going on in the stables anyway, thank you for your help."

"It was a pleasure," the messenger said, bowing, before he turned and ran towards the clerk's offices. Kel watched his retreating figure as she buckled her sword belt around her waist. It was very unlikely that she would need it, but it was better to wear it just in case. She sighed as she pulled her shoulder length hair into a short ponytail and stepped out of her room, just how much trouble could the Own cause in one day?

**E.N Thanks for reading ****The rewrite version is a _lot _shorter than the original version so I would like to know, what you think of it? (**If you want to give me feedback but have already reviewed this chapter before PM me or submit an anon review**)**

**I reply to each review personally (**and I reply to anonymous review in my AN's**) so you can expect an answer if you review **

**Thankyou so much for reading, I'll be around,**

**-Jess-**


	2. Black Drum

**A.N Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed (and everyone who added me to favorites or alerts), it means a lot to me.**

**Chapter 2:**

Black Drum

Kel approached the stables carefully, she had seen too many pranks pulled on innocent passersby in the last few days to go charging into a situation in which the Own were involved. She had thought that Corporal Wolset was just having her on again but when she stepped into the stables it was quite obvious that something was going on.

"There you are Lady Knight," one of the stable hands called as he ducked his head below the railings of the hay loft, "I was wondering when you would pop by."

"Why would you be wondering that, Polten?" Kel asked.

Polten disappeared into the hay loft and Kel thought that he had taken off until he came back with Corporal Wolset in tow. "This boy has been hiding up here since he sent a messenger off for you."

"Any why would that be Corporal?"

Wolset turned his eyes down to his feet and shuffled a bit, "it wasn't my fault milady."

"What wasn't your fault?"

"Sergeant Domitan's unfortunate accident," said Wolset and Kel could see that a smirk had formed on his down turned face, "how was I supposed to know that Black Drum would trample him if he _accidentally _fell into the beasts stall?"

"He did what?" Kel exclaimed.

"Well, you see, he was fussing over his pretty pony and I…asked him to come for a walk with me. So we were passing by Black Drum-Lord Raoul's beast-when Dom tripped and fell into the stall, and since the last prank that we pulled on Raoul well…"

"Well, what?"

"Lord Raoul has Drum on orders to attack any member of the Own who comes within two yards of his stall," a pleading look spread across Wolset's face, "how was I supposed to know that Drum has a special fetish for Dom?"

"You're an excellent actor Corporal, if I didn't know you so well I would have believed you," Kel shook her head in mock regret. "Is Sergeant Domitan still alive?"

Wolset chuckled and gestured in the direction of Black Drum's stall, "How am I supposed to know that? I rather fancied staying in one piece today so I didn't stick around to find out."

"Of course," Kel sighed as she began to make her way towards Drum's stall, "the men of the Own are _always _loyal to their commanding officers, but only until their welfare comes into question."

Kel had half expected to find Dom unconscious on the floor in Drum's stall but when she go there she was relieved to find that the stall was empty. That left two problems though, the first being the whereabouts of Dom, and the second being were had Drum disappeared to?

She didn't have to wonder for long as she soon spied a large black horse pacing under a rafter near the back of the stables. Raoul's horse was usually a placid creature, all he lived for were sugar cubes and carrots, the only exception to that is when he is asked to do something for his master. As she drew closer to the big gelding she noticed a boot hanging from the rafter that the animal was pacing under, closer inspection revealed a leg and an arm.

"Sergeant Domitan?" She asked, "what are you doing up in the rafters?"

Dom moved so that Kel could see his face below the rafter that he was clinging to, "what does it look like, mother, Raoul's beast has taken a liking to trampling me."

"I'm sure that Drum has good reason to be harassing you," Kel smiled as she reached out to hold Drum's bridle and stroke the side of his face. The horse stopped pacing and devoted his attention to Kel, though he kept one eye trained on his captive.

After a while Dom spoke again, "are you going to take that creature away so that I can get down from here or are you going make me stay here until Raoul comes to get his horse?"

"Is there a reason why I should take Drum away, Dom?"

"I already told you that the beast has a death wish for me," Dom groaned, "he's already trampled me in his stall and he bit a chunk out of my leg when I was trying to get away from him."

"I think that I will take him back to his stall then, he seems to have exacted enough revenge for one day," Kel began to walk towards Drum's stall and the big horse followed her without a cue. As soon as she had pulled the lock across on his stall door Dom dropped from the rafter, stumbling when he hit the ground, and hobbled across to Kel.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me Dom, if I hadn't had anything else to do today I would have left you up there and watched until dinner time."

Dom snorted and glared at both Drum and Kel, keeping his distance from the former. "That is a comforting thought, but if you will excuse me your ladyship, I think that I have lost more than enough blood and I should probably go lie down before I faint."

"Why, are you feeling faint?" Kel asked, her mood changing rapidly so that she was now concerned for her friend.

"Quite," Dom murmured as he leant against the stall opposite to Drum's.

Kel stepped across the gap between them and wrapped her arm around his back, "I think it may be better to take you to Neal, it's only across the other side of the practice courts, do you think you can make it there?"

"As long as we don't have to run I should be fine," Dom joked as Kel led him from the stables. Polten, who was still up in the hay loft, ducked his head under the rail as they passed and had been planning to say something about there closeness when he thought better of it and disappeared back into the hay loft.

It took a while for Kel and Dom to make their way across to the infirmary and they gained more than a few curious stares a long the way. As soon as they reached the door to Neal's office Kel took her arm away from Dom's back and knocked on the door to his cousin's office. When Neal poked his head out to see who had disturbed him Kel pushed the door wide open and gestured towards Dom. "He went too close to Black Drum again and you know the deal that Raoul has going with his horse."

"Of course I do," Neal grinned as he pulled Dom into his office and shoved him down into the visitor's chair, "it's something of a legend in New Hope."

"I see," Kel said as she studied Dom who had slumped over the arm of the chair, "if it's alright Neal, I really must be going."

Neal glanced back at his cousin before he answered Kel, "sure, Dom's injuries don't seem to be too bad. I'll probably have him patched up by dinner and I'll get some of the men to drag him back to his room so he can sleep it off tonight."

"Thank you, Neal," Kel smiled as she turned to the door, just before she walked out she spun back to face him. "Take good care of him," she mumbled and then she had disappeared.

**E.N So...what do you think? I tried really, really hard not to make it a clone (I know from experience how annoying that can get, just reading the same plot, after the same plot, after the same plot)**

**Every review will get a response and I _do _accept unsigned reviews (so you don't have to have an account on the site to review, just click the'go' button at the bottom) Also, if you are reading this for the second time (after reading the original and now the rewrite) I would love to get your feedback but if you have already reviewed you can always PM me or submit an anon review (PM-ing is probably easier )**

**Thanks so much,**

**-Jess-**

**I have decided to continue-or atleast put this chapter up-thanks to your reviews (_Sheryl_, _Sheba244, Heather the Writer, Aly-Of-Tortall13, oirishgoddess, 'Lisha_** **and _kittykatloren_)**

**Here's chapter two (this is actual a complete rewrite so if you've already read this chapter...it isn't the same as before)**

**Disclaimer: All recognizable things belong to the goddess Tamora Pierce, the horse who is the inspiration for Black Drum's character however, is all mine!**


	3. Neal's Advice

**A.N Okay, hey guys Long time, no update, sorry!**

**Thank you so much to my reviewers-_little 'ol me _(Thank you s-o-o much!), _xxTunstall Chickxx, Heather the Writer, Sheba224, oirishgoddess, Kelly Masbolle, imakeladrygirl, doveofdreams, Aly-Of-Tortall13, kittykatloren _and _Un.eXisting-love-_you have no idea how much your reviews encouraged me to do this **

**Disclaimer: Not mine, Tamora Pierce's...but the computer that I'm using right now, thats mine!**

**Chapter 3:**

Neal's Advice

Dom woke the next morning feeling oddly rested and more than able to face the day. He had been on the verge of unconsciousness when Neal and a few men from his squad had dragged him into his room from the infirmary. He had been too tired to change out of his clothes so he still wore the mud caked garments that he had worn yesterday. With a groan, he swung his feet over the side of his bed and dragged himself across to the mirror he kept over the basin in the small space behind his changing screen.

Drum had done a good job with his beating and Dom now had bruised patches across his face and torso in various colors, shapes and sizes. They weren't the most attractive of things but at least he didn't have any broken bones.

He had decided last night that he had a few things to ask his cousin, but in his state he had hardly had the chance to ask them. Now that he had the opportunity to ask he wasn't going to waste it, so he hurriedly pulled on a new pair of breeches, a clean shirt, belted on his sword belt and walked from his room towards the infirmary.

He had just crossed the practice courts, heading towards his cousins office, when he noticed a woman up on the battlements, her body cast in to shadow by the fierce light of the rising sun. She shifted and the sunlight glinted off the sword that she wore at her hip, her shoulder length hair fluttering in the slight wind. Dom watched in silence for a moment, his thoughts running rampant, before he walked into Neal's room without bothering to knock. His cousin was still in bed and as soon as he came in the door Neal groaned and pulled the blankets up over his head.

"Wakey, wakey Sir Meathead," Dom cooed as he flounced across to the bed and threw the blankets to the floor. "It's time to get up."

"No it isn't," Neal protested. "If the sun is still below the horizon then I should still be in my bed, asleep!"

"It's just being slow today," Dom teased, spying a glass of water on the nightstand beside Neal's bed. "Get up now Nealan or you will regret it."

Neal groaned and rolled away from Dom, onto his side. "Do your worst."

"You should know me better than to ask me that," Dom laughed as he picked the glass up and in one quick move, dumped its contents onto Neal's head, "I always do my worst."

His cousin's reaction was immediate and violent. Neal's arms flew into the air and his hands formed a wide circle as if he was trying to strangle Dom. The glass that Dom still held was knocked flying and smashed against the floor. The only thing that Dom regretted was the fact that he had brought no one with him to bear witness to it. "Dom," Neal gasped along with a few assorted curse words. "You'll be the death of me."

"That is actually a possibility. I'll meet you in the infirmary in ten minutes and if you just roll over and go back to sleep, so help me, I _will_ drag the horse trough in here and give you a proper bath."

"I'm getting up right now," Neal muttered as he threw his feet over the edge of the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Just give me a moment."

"You have ten minutes," Dom chuckled as he walked out the door. "And I do know where the horse trough is!"

"I was only three minutes late," Neal scowled at his cousin as he wiped his dripping hair from his eyes and attempted to wring some of the water from his tunic. "There was no need to dump a bucket on my head."

"I'm very sorry that I couldn't meet your standards sir meathead. I tried to get the horse trough, but when I went to get it I found that it had been anchored into the ground since my last prank," Dom grinned as he settled himself onto one of the empty beds in the ward. "I still think that Raoul was overreacting though. Five days on the road without a bath had given him a pungent aroma and I thought that he might have appreciated a nice, refreshing soak."

Neal chuckled despite his anger. "I'm sure that he appreciated it but it was a pity that he felt the need to get his own back on you the next day. Or have you forgotten the vegetable incident?"

"No," Dom cringed "I haven't."

"Good, I'm gald that you haven't as I am sure that you deserved it."

"I probably did, but I couldn't get the stink of those rotting tomatoes out of my tunic for a week," Dom smiled at the memory and leant back against the bed's oak headboard. "Can I ask you something Neal, and this is a serious question."

"I guess," Neal sighed as he seated himself on the bed that was opposite his cousin's. "What do you want to ask?"

"How did you tell Yuki that you were interested in her?"

Neal froze for a moment, his expression shocked, before he answered. "What an odd question to be coming from your mouth cousin, I thought that _you_ were the expert in this field. You're the one who goes to all the court functions and with a different lady hanging off your arm every night."

"This is different."

Neal's smile faded as he noticed the serious look on Dom's face. "I guess that I just expressed my interest in the usual ways. I asked her to a few dances, sent her flowers, took her to the markets to look at the dresses. Why?"

Dom shrugged. "No reason really. Though, just to be awkward, what if I were to ask you what you would have done if none of the _usual_ methods worked."

Neal frowned and crossed his hands in his lap. "Does this have something to do with anyone that I know?"

"Not really," Dom lied. "I have a friend back in Corus who wrote to me yesterday and he asked me questions like these, I thought that I should ask someone other than myself before I wrote back."

Neal nodded and relaxed. "That sounds reasonable to me."

"That's what I thought," Dom grinned. "So, do you have any other answers that I may be interested in?"

"I guess that if this person didn't like balls or flowers or dresses, you could try asking them to do the things that they like to do with you," Neal studied his cousin again before he grinned. "Now what are you going to pay me for these little snippets of wisdom?"

"Nothing," Dom chuckled. "Blood relations shouldn't have to pay anything for advice."

"Keep telling yourself that!" Neal shouted after his cousin as he disappeared outside."You un-appreciative weasel."

A few minutes after he left the infirmary, Dom had just passed the practice courts when he stopped abruptly and turned back.

"Hey Tobe," he called and gestured for the boy to come over. "Where's the Lady Knight?"

"She hasn't come down from the battlements yet," Tobe murmured. He leaned close to Dom's ear so that only he could hear. "She told me before t' take over the lesson if she aint here by the time it should start. Though she did look rather confused when she went up there."

"Confused?"

"Yeah," Tobe replied. "Muttering to herself n' stuff."

"Thanks Tobe," Dom smiled and flicked the boy a copper noble "buy yourself something nice to eat the next time you're in a town."

"Thank you Sergeant Domitan," Tobe grinned as he turned back to his troops. "Lift those feet higher otherwise you will trip over 'em."

Dom hurried away from Tobe before he was asked to act as an example for the class, the steps that lead up to the top of the wall felt longer than ever but finally he got up there. He found Kel wedged between a barrel and the battlement wall, she obviously didn't want to be discovered.

"It's a beautiful sunrise," he murmured quietly as he stepped forwards to place his hands on Kel's shoulders. She jumped under his touch and looked down as he caught the hint of a slight smile cross her face. She relaxed against his knees and sighed, she appeared to be calmer than she had been yesterday and Dom wondered why.

"It is," The sun was now a fiery, golden disk that hung just above the tree studded horizon. "I heard Neal swearing before, did anything that I might be interested in happen?"

Dom shrugged and grinned. "Sir Meathead went for a bath."

A surprised look crossed Kel's face as she glanced up at him. "I thought that I asked the smith to anchor the horse trough after you and Wolset dragged it into Raoul's room and rolled him into it."

"You did," Dom admitted as he tried to sound hurt. "I have to use buckets now."

Kel chuckled and shuffled a bit. "I can't get up if you're stood right behind me, Dom."

"Sorry," he said but made no move to get out of the way. Instead he dropped his hand down to her and pulled her to her feet. His back protested against the work a little but it quieted when he straightened.

"How are your war wounds?"

"Bearable," he sighed and changed the topic. "Tobe said that you looked confused when you came up here, are you okay?"

"I was only wondering why it has been so quite around here of late," Her lie was flawless as it flowed from her mouth, though Dom noticed that she wasn't telling the whole truth. "Just a month or so ago this place was swarming with activity and now it's as if all of our enemies have just dropped dead."

"Hopefully they have. Were you thinking about anything else?"

"No," Kel frowned. "I don't think so, does it matter?"

"Not really," he grinned, but his shoulders slumped a little. "What are you going to do today?"

"Nothing. Like I said before, our enemies appear to have dropped dead and now I find myself strangely bored without them."

Dom smiled and crossed his arms before his chest. "I think I know what you mean, maybe you would like to go for a ride later. We could go have a look for these enemies that you feel desperately lost without. If we don't find some we could always make some new ones, maybe the old ones got bored with us."

"Maybe Dom," Kel chuckle as she leant forwards against the parapet, hands beneath her chin. "Maybe."

Dom waited a while for Kel to speak again but when she didn't he yawned widely and leant back to rest against the wall, a comfortable silence lay between them.

Tobe and his warriors were just finishing up with their drills when Dom broke the silence. "Kel?"

Kel sighed and turned to him. "Yes."

"Do you ever feel that there's something missing in your life? Something big and yet simple?"

"Possibly," a frown cut across Kel's brow as she fixed her gaze on Dom's expression. "Though that is a very confusing question, why do you ask?"

"Not for any reason in particular," Dom lied, the way that his voice quivered when he spoke gave him away though and he hurried to cover it up. "I only wanted to know if it was normal."

"Don't ask me about normal," Kel murmured, resentment in her voice.

Dom gathered her hand into his and lifted her chin with the other. "What do you mean by that?"

"I've never known _normal_," Kel shrugged, she used her shrug to release her chin from Dom's hand and she immediately turned away. "I've been different since birth. I was the first female in the realm to go through knight training as a girl and now I am the realms first Lady Knight for who-knows how many years. People look to me as both an oddity and a leader. They look to me as a worthless girl who has forgotten her place and as a woman who has found her place as a commander. You have no idea how hard that is for me to deal with."

"Maybe I don't. But who said that you have to deal with it alone."

Kel jerked her head up to look Dom in the eyes. There was sorrow in them, veiled by trust and something softer. Something like love. She felt his hand move against hers and looked down to see what he was doing. He still held her hand in one of his, but now he had his other hand wrapped around hers as well. His fingers caressed hers and she noticed that he was staring at her fourth finger, his thumb tracing across her knuckles. He was staring at her ring finger.

"Um, Dom?" Kel asked. She felt rather uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"Yes Kel," Dom looked up from her fingers and she wished that she hadn't interrupted him. The intensity of his gaze was overwhelming. Kel felt her heart thump pathetically in her chest, how could he do this to her without even trying?

"I, um, what are you doing?"

"Looking at you. Am I bothering you?"

"N-no, not really," Kel answered weakly. "Why are you looking?"

"Because," Dom smiled as he moved closer to her. Kel felt all too aware of just how close he was. "Do I need a reason?"

Kel tried to think of an answer but her stunned brain had chosen that moment to give up on her completely. Dom seemed to take her silence to mean something else as he moved his arm to wrap around her back. Kel froze and panicked. What could she do, this was wrong, all wrong. She must be dreaming, one of her fantasies come to life to haunt her.

"I can't do this," Kel said quickly, tearing herself out of Dom's arm. "I have t-to do something in my office."

Dom stood, frozen, as Kel ran to the stairs and down them, to the courtyard below. Tobe dropped his glaive in shock as his mistress rushed past him. After Kel had disappeared around a corner Tobe followed the line of disruption that Kel had caused back to Dom, a frown on his face. Dom waved once before he turned away from the boy, his hands running through his hair. _What have I done?_ He thought. _What have I done?_

**E.N The ending was necessary (you'll see why in the next few chapters) but sorry anyway.**

**I have holidays coming up in 2 and a half weeks so if you'll bear with me until then I should have a _lot_ of updates for you! (why did I hear everyone groan?)**

**Please review and tell me what you think; I can't believe that people actually read this (I fall off my computer chair regularly when I log on and see the stats) and I have the whole plot planned out now and I have to say that it isn't as predictable as it may appear. Mwahahaha...**

**Thanks for reading,**

**-Jess-**

**Oh, and if you are wondering what to do now I recently put a one shot up about Dove (from the Trickster series) called _Change of Heart._ I would love it if you took a look and told me what you think (if you haven't already )**


	4. Messages

**A.N Hello again, did you miss me? **

**First of all I would like to say thank you to all of my reviewers for the last chapter-_inktongue58 _(**Thanks, I'll try to avoid cliffies in the next chapter/s **), _xxTunstall Chickxx, abyssgirl, Heather the Writer, BeautifulInsanity13, Aly-Of-Tortall13, kittykatloren, doveofdreams, oirishgoddess, UN.eXisting-love, Kelly Masbolle _(**Thanks, I have a really bad habbit with the "-" he said. "-" she chuckled, but I am trying really hard to break out of it**) and _PuppyBekaCooper. _Thank you s-o-o much!**

**Sorry about this being a little late, hope you all enjoy this chapter and I can promise you that it gets a _lot _more interesting from here in xD**

**Disclaimer: They said that they were allowed to come out of TP's book for a holiday, honest!**

**Chapter 4:**

Messages

During Kel's years with Raoul and the Own she had never objected to doing paperwork. Sometimes it was the life blood of the kingdom, but sometimes it was a plague. Either way it always had to be done, no exceptions. Paperwork only became a plague for Kel when she took over command of Haven. She could still remember the day that Numair introduced her to the clerks. Sadly they were no longer alive.

After she returned from Scanra, Lord Wyldon presented her with seven new clerks, two men, two women and three teenage boys. In Kel's opinion, it was one of the best things that could have happened. If she asked them to draw up a table or a graph they would get right to it instead of protesting like her earlier helpers. There was a down side to having clerks and Kel new that well. Without any paperwork to distract her mind from its thoughts, she was finding it practically impossible to stop thinking about Dom.

Had he really meant to kiss her? What could a man of his stature see in her, in Kel…..in mother? He could have any woman this side of the Roof of the World, why would he fancy the Yamani lump above his court ladies? Maybe he was only flirting with her and she had taken it a little too seriously. He was probably bored out of his mind with nothing better to do than mess with her. That had to be it. He wasn't interested in her, he was only looking for fun.

Her thoughts were disrupted by a soft knock on her door. She jumped from her chair and hurried across the room without thinking. When she reached the door she paused, her hand on the doorknob. What if it was Dom on the other side of the door? How would she explain why she ran away from him?

"Lady Knight Keladry?" A man's voice called. "I have a message for you from Lord Wyldon of Cavall."

Kel took a deep breath and inched the door open to find one of her clerks frowning at her. "Thank the gods it's only you Nolon, come in."

Nolon's frown deepened as he stepped through the door and took a seat in the visitors chair that stood in front of her desk. When Kel sat down opposite him, he pulled a scroll from a deep pocket in his grey robes and placed it on her side of the desk.

"Did the messenger bring any other news?" Kel asked as she slit the seal on the scroll with her boot knife. It was not unusual for the bearer of these letters to carry verbal messages as well as the written sort.

"Nothing new," Nolon sighed. "The clean up on the Scanran border is going well and the reconstruction of Fort Giantkiller has almost finished. The man did say that Lord Wyldon has some news that he will be sending to you shortly."

"Did he say what the nature of this news was?"

"No, but I would suspect it to be of the secret kind."

Kel smiled at the clerk over her letter. "Thank you Nolon, you may go now."

Nolon muttered something about the Own's inability to fill out paperwork properly as he bowed to Kel and hurried from her office. She had to agree with him there, Third Company were absolutely hopeless with their paperwork.

She waited for the door to click shut before she continued to read. Most of the letter contained details that were related to the losses on the Scanran border and the latest increases in food supplies for the northern forts. There was one bit that caught her attention though.

_Earlier this week, a small Scanran raiding party breached the Tortallan border and looted the village of Goatstrack. As it has only recently been rebuilt, Goatstrack can no longer support itself. Many refugees have been put into temporary placements in neighboring forts but most are already too full to provide sanctuary for them. As New Hope is the closest refugee camp to their position it must be used as a shelter for the Goatstrack villagers until we can rebuild their village. The building committee is unsure of the time it will take to rebuild as we are only just finishing our work on Fort Giantkiller. Third Company is to stay at New Hope until such time as the refugees are returned to their village. Lord Raoul will be needed at Fort Steadfast in one weeks time to report on the needs of New Hope and Third Company. Third Company will be left under the eye of Lord Raoul's second in command until the time of his return._

_We have organized for rations to be sent with the villagers that should support the increase in demand until New Hope has the means to provide for them itself. There will also be a messenger with the refugees. He will bring you some news that is too sensitive to be put into this letter or to be given verbally to the bearer of this letter. The messenger will also be there to protect the refugee train from bandits and to add to New Hope's magical defenses. He will not be able to stay for long._

_May Bright Mithros and the Mother Goddess guide you,_

_Lord Wyldon_

Kel sighed as she rolled the letter back up, just when she thought that she had everything under control fate decided to throw something else into the mix. If Lord Wyldon could not trust the first messenger with his information it was sure to be something bad. Something that Kel would not want to know. But what could require such a level of secrecy?

It had been a while now since Kel ate her breakfast and her stomach had begun to growl loudly in protest. She thought on the problem some more as she made her way to New Hope's mess hall and only succeeded in giving herself a headache. She was thinking so much that she collected her food and sat down at her usual table without noticing what she was doing. She only realized that she had sat down, and had her tray before her, when Neal leant across the table and poked her in the shoulder.

"Is something the matter Kel?" He asked as he held his hand to her forehead. "You don't appear to have a fever."

"What?" Kel started. She could hear Wolset and the rest of the Own laughing behind her but decided to ignore them. Someone had probably jumped onto a table and started doing an impression of one of their latest pranks on Raoul.

"I asked if there was something bothering you," Neal said, rapidly becoming impatient when Kel didn't answer. "Well, is there?"

"No, no. I was only thinking about a letter that arrived today from Lord Wyldon today. Goatstrack has been attacked and we are going to get a new batch of refugees sometime this week."

"More trouble," Neal moaned. "Please tell me that there wasn't any other news from Wyldon."

"Nothing new really, a few bits about the Scanran raiders, new food supplies, oh, and Raoul has to go to Fort Steadfast at the end of the week."

Neal stopped playing with his food and frowned. There was a loud bang from the table that seated the Own followed by the splash of a discarded wine glass. "If Raoul is going to be away, pray tell me, who will be in charge of Third Company?"

"Lord Wyldon said that it would be Raoul's second in command, whoever that is."

Neal's eyes widened and his mouth fell open as he dropped his spoon back into his bowl of lumpy meat stew. "Did you just say that they would be left in charge of his _second in command?_"

"That is the normal procedure for these sorts of things Neal," Kel said slowly. Maybe Neal had finally lost it. "Why are you so surprised?"

"Because Roul's second in command is-"

Neal was cut off by another loud bang, though this time it didn't come from the Own's table. Kel looked up to see two booted feet firmly planted on their table in the gap between their lunch trays.

"Did someone say my name?" Dom laughed as he jumped from the tabletop and slid down into a space on the bench beside Kel.

"Don't tell me that _you're_ the second in command," Kel groaned.

"Why wouldn't I be? Dear Captain Flyndan had some matters to attend to at home and in the light of past events Lord Raoul decided to promote me to his temporary second in command. I'm sure that I have told you all of this before though."

"You probably did," she smiled before her expression turned serious when she remembered what had happened on the battlements earlier that day. "My memory has gone to the hag though."

"I can bear witness to that," Neal said, he was bored with being ignored. "And so could Raoul if he didn't have to follow Lord Wyldon's orders."

"What was that about orders from Lord Wyldon?" Dom asked.

Kel explained as she started to pack away her lunch. "Lord Raoul has to go to Fort Steadfast at the end of the week and his second in command will be left in charge of Third Company."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Dom frowned.

"Definitely not if it's you who will be in charge-"

"Hey! That's not what I meant at all. I was wondering if it's wise for Raoul to go to Fort Steadfast right now."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Dom pulled out his fingers and began to count on them. "Well, there's all of those rogue Scanrans that are lurking on the border, ready to pick off any travelers. Then there are those raiders who seem to be very ignorant about staying on _their _side of the border. I also got word of a new tribe of killer centaurs living near Fort Mastiff and there are those bloodthirsty unicorns that we chased off last week."

"That's enough," Neal interrupted his cousin before he could continue. "I think we get your point."

Kel nodded in agreement before she stood and lifted her tray from the table. "Please excuse me, but I have a lot things to do today and not much time to do them in."

"But I only just got here," Dom protested.

"Sorry, but I really must go."

"Then I'll come with you," he smiled. "Surely you would like a bit of help with all these things that you have to do."

"Ah," Kel said as she tried to come up with an excuse for Dom to stay behind.

"I wouldn't be any trouble-"

Neal could see the tension between his friend and cousin and decided that it was time for him to take his leave. "I should get going too; I have to go sew someone's head back together. I'll see you two at dinner."

Dom and Kel watched Neal hurry from the mess hall, both had frowns on their faces. Kel was about to go back to convincing Dom why he couldn't go with her when she noticed a window on the far side of the mess. Why create a false excuse when there was a perfectly good reason walking towards her office?

"I'm sorry Dom but I have to show Lord Wyldon's letter to Lord Raoul and I just saw him walk past. I guess I'll see you later."

"Kel wait!" Dom called as she ran down the aisle to the door. "Why did you say that you _guess _that you'll see me later?"

"Don't worry about her," Wolset said from where he had appeared behind Dom. "The poor lass is just confused, but I can see that you're feelin' blue so listen to this. Third Company is planning a card game tonight, we're going to hold it in the stables though it's going to be secret like, not even Raoul or the Lady Knight will now about it. So sarge, are you in?"

Dom stared at the door that Kel had disappeared through for a moment before he answered. "I'm in, what time are we meeting?"

"Midnight."

"Midnight?" Dom asked, rolling his eyes.

"I know, I know," Wolset chuckled. "It wasn't my idea, it was the boys. Players the lot of them."

"So midnight in the stables?"

Wolset sighed and shuffled. "How many times must I tell you?"

"No more than you just have," Dom grinned. "I'll be there but I'm not going to play the fool again."

Wolset laughed in response and called after Dom's retreating back. "How were we supposed to know that you can't hold your drink very well?"

**E.N And so the plot thickens! Sorry about the whole 'filler' thing but it was needed, honest. Don't worry, the humour will return. I have the whole thing planned out and the big twist is about to come up so this was basically building up to it **

**Hope you all liked it, please review and let me know what you think (I think that my writing has improved dramatically thanks to everyones comments and pointers and it wouldn't be anywhere near what it is today without you) I would also like to know if you like this length chapter better than the monster that was my first chapter xD**

**Happy April Fool's Day for tomorrow! (I hope that no one pulls anything evil on any of you) **

**-Jess-**

**Many thanks to my beta**


	5. Misguided Feelings

**A.N I know that I have left this a while, and I will explain why in the end note (it's going to be a monster) This is also on its second edit so it is pretty rough and I don't want to annoy my beta because I know that she's working on a project (that I should have been working on instead of doing this) So just read on and enjoy (hopefully)**

**Disclaimer: I only wanted to get them to admit their feelings for each other...although I probably didn't need to borrow _all_ of the characters, settings and main plot lines from her majesty, Tamora Pierce**

**Chapter 5:**

Misguided Feelings

Kel woke sometime around midnight. She had been hoping for a good sleep as climbed into bed and definitely didn't appreciate being woken. Countless weeks of work had taken its toll and not just Kel's body, but her mind as well. When she finally dragged herself upright she could hear what sounded like half of the camp holding an impromptu party in the dead of the night, that or there was a drunken army approaching.

After a few minutes of consideration, Kel pulled on the clothes that she had left discarded on her nightstand and belted on her sword and dagger. The night air was frigid, and it took her a few moments to summon enough courage to step out into it. She pulled her cloak tighter to her body and sent a silent curse to the gods that had caused this. Whoever was making all of this noise was going to be very, very sorry for it in the morning.

It was not hard to determine from which direction the noise was coming from, in less than a minute Kel was storming towards the stables, head bowed and cursing. As she stepped into the warmth of the building she heard a loud thump and raucous laughter from the hay loft. When Kel had designed New Hope, along with others of course, she had left ample room in the loft incase they had to store more hay bales than usual. Now she regretted making so much extra room.

She quietly made her way down the aisle between the horse's stalls, many of them turned to look at her as she passed, their eyes pleading with her to stop the racket from upstairs. With a smile and a silent promise to them that she would run everyone back to their beds Kel continued on to a ladder that she knew lead upstairs. In the stall beside the ladder, Peachblossom was making a point of ignoring the noise that was coming from upstairs, when Kel walked past he opened one eye and stuck his head out to snatch a pat before he stepped back and shut his eyes again.

Kel wrapped her hand around the highest rung on the ladder that she could reach from the floor and began to climb upwards. She wouldn't have to be quite to surprise these drunkards, but it would take legendary reaction times to stop them from bolting and disappearing into the night. Luckily her reaction times were well up to scratch.

She was about to climb out of the hole in the loft's floor when she heard a familiar voice. As soon as she heard it she froze and sank back into the shadows, this could be interesting.

"I would like to propose a toast," Corporal Wolset hiccupped as he slopped a good half of his glass of wine down his tunic. It was easy for Kel to hear what he was saying because he was now shouting due to his drunken state, "to our supreme overlord."

Wolset bowed elaborately and jumped off the table that he had been perched on. When he hit the ground he stumbled and almost fell head first through the wall, but the men weren't paying attention to him anymore. Their 'supreme overlord' had just climbed onto the table in the Corporal's place and he didn't look very steady on his feet at all.

"Thanking you slave," Dom grinned as he pranced around on the table, knocking more than a few empty mugs onto the floor. Kel's gaze followed the mugs down and she noticed that the floor was a patchwork of beer mugs, cards and unconscious men. "I could see that none of you lot thought that I could stomach my ale, I proved you wrong, didn' I?"

There was a roar of approval from the men and a good number of them clapped until they followed the same path as the empty mugs. It would probably have made no difference if Kel were to jump from her hiding spot wearing nothing but a barrel and shouting gibberish at the top of her lungs.

One of the new corporals from Dom's squad stood up, beer mug in hand, and raised it to his brow in mockery of a salute. "Here's to our sup-reme overlord and 'is beautiful lass."

Kel frowned as the man sat back down amongst the cheers of his comrades, running the last few words of his toast through her head. _'Is beautiful lass eh?_ She swore that she wasn't going to get herself worked up about it and turned back to watch the men, just as Dom jumped off the table.

He stumbled until he hit the wall and bounced off then headed to a small group of people that sat on a newly stacked pile of bales, or at least it _had _been newly stacked Kel realized in dismay. Most of the hay now lay strewn across the floor at the people's feet and there was a mountain of unbound hay behind them, someone must have cut the strings that bound the bales together.

"Hello my darling," a female voice simpered, interrupting Kel's thoughts, "are you going to sit with me?"

Kel could hardly believe her eyes when Dom pulled the middle-aged woman into his lap and kissed her on the cheek. She knew for a fact that the woman was married and had children of her own, she also knew that the woman's husband was not in the room.

"Give her a big one!" Another corporal called from across the room, throwing his beer into the air above his companion's heads and pouring it over them. "For me ye' highness."

Dom had just pulled the woman to sprawl across his lap when Kel could take no more. She jumped from her hiding spot and drew her sword. Maybe if she held something sharp and pointed in her hand it would help her to get her point across to the drunks.

"Everybody out," she said in the voice that she usually reserved for the battlefield. "Clean yourselves up and go straight to bed, I don't want to hear anything more from the lot of you until tomorrow."

Most of the men were already scurrying for the exits by the time Kel had jumped onto the tabletop that Dom had recently vacated. She kicked a few of the unconscious drunks who lay face down on the table to wake them and turned to face Dom. The middle-age woman had already left, presumably gone back to her husband, and Dom looked as if he was about to cry.

"It wasn't my fault, Kel," he whimpered, the alcohol had obviously won the battle for control over his brain. "The men challenged me to a drinkin' contest, I know I shouldn' have agreed but I did."

Kel studied him for a moment, his complexion was rosy but he appeared to be slowly turning pale, a touch of green spreading through his cheeks. She realized what was about to happen and managed to get a wooden bucket to him before his stomach won out. With a wince she stepped back and sheathed her sword.

"You don't look too well Dom," she started when he slid down the wall to slump onto the floor. "Get up and I'll take you to Neal, I'm sure that your cousin will just love this."

He moaned as he tried to stumble to his feet, only to fall back down again. "A little help please?"

"Fine," Kel growled, none too happy with the situation that she was in. "Try to get up again."

As Dom stumbled to his feet Kel wrapped her arm around his back and pulled his over her shoulders. As she dragged him towards the steps that were the main way up to the loft she growled instructions under her breath. "One foot after the other Sergeant, eyes on were you're feet are, watch the steps."

Dom replied with a groan, his eyes rolling back into his head.

They were just rounding the corner to the infirmary when somebody stepped around the corner ahead of them. The person walked towards them and appeared to laugh as they caught sight of the pair.

"What happened now?" Neal laughed as he stepped up to Kel. "I heard a racket coming from the stables but it stopped as soon as I stepped out of my room."

"The Own had another drinking competition, your cousin was involved of course," Kel gave Dom a shove as she said the word 'cousin', partly to emphasize who she was talking about and partly to make sure that he was still conscious. "I think he might have drunk too much tonight though, would you stop just standing there and give me a hand Neal?"

Without bothering to answer, Neal went to Dom's other side and wrapped his arm around his cousin's back. They made slow progress but they finally made it into the infirmary and lay Dom out on a bed. As Neal went out to find his father Kel stayed with Dom. It was a foolish thought, and she knew it, but hadn't Dom kissed her only a few days ago? Now he was drinking himself stupid and had taken up kissing middle-aged married women. Was it wise for her to place such a large part of her heart upon such a fickle man? Did he really mean that he had an interest in her or had she been silly and read too far into some sort of Own-inspired joke?

She crossed her arms on the side of Dom's bed and put her head down between them. It was all too much to happen at one time. She thought that without war on their doorstep the world would become a much more sensible place, apparently it worked out to be the exact opposite. All that Kel was sure of now was that Dom was heavily drunk and unconscious beside her and he definitely wouldn't be up to an interrogation anytime soon.

**E.N And the main plot line (do I hear you all going, what are you on about now?) will be introduced within the next 2 chapters...that is if I continue.**

**I have put this off long enough and I do regret it, I did almost put this on a permanent hiatus (it would have been in place for at least a month or two) but I thought that you may deserve more than that. I have now decided that, for this to be updated, I will need somewhere around 5 reviews (could go either way, but please tell me if that is too high an ask), at least 3 of them nice-ish. (I do have a personal review-line, but thats personal) Thats just a warning so dont take it personally, I've just been leaving a lot of school work to the last minute to write this and I need to know if it is worth it or not **T.T

**You may have also noticed that I have changed the story title and summary-please tell me what you think of them (do you have any suggestions?) I have 2 variations of the current title to consider as well-**Shattered Sanctuary **or **Shattered Sanctuaries**. And should I stick with this chapter title or change it? (If I should change it then what do you suggest?) I may also re-write the first two chapters as I am unhappy with them...that will take a while though.**

**Last question,**

**Continue Or Dont Continue?**

**I do accept anonymous reviews so you dont need an account to review this-just click the button that everyone talks about Thank you so much for reading and I hope that this author's note didn't give you too much of a headache. Hopefully you'll want me back to terrorise another day xD**


	6. Hangovers and Refugees

**A.N I guess that I just scared everyone by updating but I can confirm that I'm not dead! (I just have a very nasty cold which I think is a mutant relative of the flu) I'll do all the talking in my end note but for now I hope you enjoy this chapter **

**Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed as I now (at the time of uploading this) have 60 reviews, thank you to _SabbyRinaBanina, Eruanna Eire, bookworm.amm, freaksQueen _(**I completely agree with you about fickle men**), _SarahE7191, greenstorm713, jayley, Heather the Writer, xxxTunstall Chickxxx, JeFiNerZ FryZ, winglessfairy25, blackkat09, Natsuko Nishi, oirishgoddess, Tabatha _(**Thank you**) and UN.eXisting-love who reviewed chapter 5, you all absolutely blew me away!**

**Disclaimer: Here is an example of the law of ownership, anything that is good belongs to Tamora Pierce: the characters, the settings, the basic plot. Anything that is bad belongs to me: the grammar, the lag between updates and this mutant flu relative that I have :P**

**Chapter 6:**

Hangover and Refugees

The first thing that Dom was aware of when he woke was a painful throbbing in his head. He blinked blearily but immediately shut his eyes when he was temporarily blinded by the brightness of the room. He heard footsteps from the other side of the room and a noise like cloth rubbing on wood; someone had just shut the curtains. At the risk of blinding himself again, Dom cracked open one eye, squinting until he decided that it was indeed dark enough.

When he opened both of his eyes he realized that he was in the infirmary, surrounded by grey sheets and wooden walls. He looked around for the person that had closed his curtains only a moment ago, but, to his surprise, the ward was empty. The door that lead to the training yards was swinging on its hinges, whoever had been in the room must have gone out that way. Just as Dom thought he was safe, in the ward, by himself, his cousin came stamping into the room through another door.

"It's about time that you woke up," Neal shouted as he slammed the door shut behind him, "it's past lunchtime and you've been asleep since we brought you in here."

Dom groaned and glared at his cousin. "Stop shouting and stomping around, my headache doesn't need any help from you."

"I'm not shouting," Neal shouted then paused before he lowered his voice and spoke again, "oh, sorry."

There was an awkward silence before either of them spoke again.

"Did I do anything…stupid last night?" Dom rasped.

"Depends on what you define as stupid."

Dom glared at his cousin reproachfully.

"From what I heard you drunk at least three times what you should have and tried to kiss a middle-aged, married mother," Neal frowned as he poured a glass of water from a pitcher on a bedside cabinet and handed it to his cousin. "Nobody is very impressed with your behavior but you could have done a _lot _worse."

"Who's 'nobody'?" Dom asked, lifting his glass to his lips to take a sip.

"Me, Raoul, the middle-aged mother's husband," Neal sat down on the side of his cousin's bed and grimaced, "Kel."

"Kel?" Dom spluttered, choking on the sip of water he had taken.

"She was the one who dragged your sorry, heavily drunk, self down during the middle of the night," Neal picked at the hem of his sleeve before he continued, "she was also the one who slept in the chair beside your bed."

"She did what?"

"I really wasn't supposed to tell you that, she forbid me to."

Dom put his glass of water down on his nightstand and scowled at his cousin, "what did she forbid you to tell me?"

"She was very worried about you after we got you to bed, she spent the whole night beside you, didn't move a muscle." Neal chewed on his lip as he watched Dom's reaction. "There was something about the way that she was acting that wasn't right though, she seemed rather upset, more so than she should have been."

Dom immediately tried to sit up, he wanted to find Kel, apologize for his behavior, but Neal shook his head and pushed him back down.

"I don't want you to leave this bed for the rest of the day, you understand?"

"But I don't need to stay here," Dom protested, "I'm perfectly fine."

Neal leant over and picked the discarded glass up from Dom's nightstand, banging it back down against the wooden surface. Dom swore and clamped his hands across his ears as his cousin sighed. "Somehow, Dom, I beg to differ."

"Fine, fine, I'll admit that I'm not alright," growled Dom, "just as long as you don't do that again."

Neal shrugged. "Deal."

"Could I ask you to do something for me though?"

"It depends on what this favor would entail."

"I only wanted to know that if you were to see Kel, would you tell her that I would like to speak to her," Dom paused and sighed, "we probably aren't on the best of terms after last night, so it may be better if you told her that I want to apologize to her."

Neal considered his cousin for a moment, his expression serious. "I will, but she may not be around for a while. Lord Raoul left for Fort Steadfast this morning and the refugees arrived just after lunch, from what I've been told she will be in a meeting with the council for the rest of the afternoon."

"I don't care if you have to use half of the Own to hunt her down, just give her my message. Promise me that you will."

"Would you like me to sign in my blood or can I use my normal quill?"

Dom rolled his eyes. "That won't be necessary, just give me your word."

"You have it," Neal said as he walked across to a pitcher on a cabinet by the far wall of the room. "I brewed some of my hangover cure this morning and I want you to drink and it a have a rest. Alcohol in all but the smallest quantities is harmful to the body and with the amount that you drank last night you may have done some damage to your liver."

Dom stared at his cousin, wide eyed.

"Nothing permanent," Neal amended himself hastily, "but enough to effect you for the next week or so."

"Oh," Dom muttered for there was nothing much that he could say.

"Now you drink this and go to sleep," Neal ordered as he handed a mug of some foul looking, brown liquid to Dom. "And if I find out that you haven't drunk it by the time that I get back I definitely won't hold up on my end of our deal."

Quiet murmurings brought Dom back to consciousness. Neal must have drugged the hangover cure because a few minutes after he had drained the last drop from the mug he had suddenly felt overwhelmingly drowsy. The voices grew slightly louder and he could make out some of the words that passed between the speakers.

"-never been so busy in my life," a deep, male voice said, "always traveling, never actually there."

"It must be horrid," a female voice replied, one that Dom recognized but couldn't place due to his muddled state of mind.

"Quite." The man paused for a moment. "Now, where were we?"

"The Goatstrack refugees, you said that you had a message to give to me, something important."

There was a creak as the two people sat down in the wooden visitor's chairs by Dom's bed. "It has been brought to our attention that there has been an increase in the amount of secret information leaking from places that it shouldn't have come from. After a bit of exploration we found that it was coming from individuals within refugee camps. Some were spies, implanted into new groups of refugees, but some were Tortallan soldiers and civilians, controlled by magic and unaware of what they were doing."

"So, what you are saying, is that there may be a spy or spies within this new batch of refugees?"

"Yes, that is part of the danger, but there may also be an individual or individuals under the power of magic who you have known for as long as you can remember."

"Is there a way to find out if somebody is under a spell?"

"There is no way of detecting a magicked person other than with the help of a mage who is in possession of power equal to, or greater than the power of the caster of the spell. There are a few noticeable signs though that give a person away such as unusual behavior or the display of behaviors not associated with a person."

Silence filled the room for a moment and Dom wondered what was happening.

"Are you alright?" The man finally asked.

"I'm fine, but thank you for your concern. "Are you sure that you don't want to stay the night here? You must be exhausted after riding all the way here."

He chuckled. "Exhausted is the light way of putting it, but I really must be going, it was nice to see you."

"No, it was nice to see you." The chairs squeaked again as the two people stood up and walked to the door, just before it Dom caught the end of their conversation.

"I hope that he gets better soon, Kel."

"So do I, Numair," Kel replied, "so do I."

**E.N Now here is were all of my talking is going to invade this chapter.**

**I know that this chapter has taken a long, _long _time to get up (and I'm sorry about that), but there are a few reasons behind it: Homework, parents, mutant flu relative, writers block, lack of motivation, etc. The list could go on...and on...and on, but I'll save that for a different author's note. what you guys may not have realised is that you are getting 3 and 1/2 new chapters with this update as I have _completely _rewritten the first two chapters and edited the third. So if you have read the first few chapters (which I would assume that you have ) they make a _lot _more sense now, so...go check them out **

**Hopefully I shall have the next upate up soon (if the mutant flu relative doesn't decide to put me in emergency which it more than likely will do if it teams up with my asthma) so until then, I will be around!**

**Reviews will definitely make me feel better (especially if they make me laugh...maybe I should start a contest...) and I allow anon reviews (or PM if you like) I will _not _be updating until I have at least 8 reviews on this chapter (that means 68 in total) Yes, I mean it because I have other fics that I could be working on and I also wrote all of this when I should have been in bed, drinking soup and sleeping of my cold. **

**-Jess-**


	7. Lord Scar

**A.N **So...um....OH HAII! Hopefully not too many of my readers have given up on me :P

Yes, this is a brand new chapter after over half a year of no updates (sorry for that but I got a hair cut the other day and for some reason my muse came back) I must say that this update would not be happening if it weren't for **Pestiset **who was my 68th reviewer (I asked for 8 reviews before I would update) 5 months after I put the 6th chapter up. And a huge thank you to my readers for a 3000+ read count and especially my reviewers for 68 reviews. Thanks to **Li'l Albatross**, **Southern View**, **...** **(**thank you, I'm glad that you think its original**)**, **winglessfairy25**, **xxTunstall Chickxx**, **Petiset**,** -love** and **oirishgoddess **for reviewing the previous chapter/s. You are what keep me writing.

**Not mine, Tamora Pierce's**

**Chapter 7: **Lord Scar

Dom leant against the parapet of the battlement wall, wiping the sweat from his forehead. As soon as Neal decided that he was well enough to leave the infirmary, Dom had rushed to his quarters, swapped his dirty clothes for the clean set draped across his bed, and spent the following hours searching fruitlessly for Kel. He had been to all of the likely places – the mess hall, her quarters, the stables – and most of the _un_likely places – the men's latrines, the animal's escape tunnel – but there were no signs of her.

He took a long drink from his water canteen and tipped part of it over his head before starting up his search again. He had just stepped onto the training field after catching sight of Tobe when a messenger came running towards him, something white scrunched in his palm.

"Are you Domitan of Masbolle, the temporary commander of Third Company?" The man was out of breath and appeared to be rather hassled, his message must be important then.

"Yes. What do you need?"

The messenger took a moment to look at the sweat soaked soldier before him and gulped. "I carry a message from one Isaac of Rosehead, son of Lord Olaf of Rosehead."

Dom frowned and nodded for the man to continue. He knew an Elaine of Rosehead who lived in New Hope but he had never heard of any other Roseheads in the camp.

"He formally challenges you-" the messenger pulled out the white cloth that had been scrunched in his palm, straightening it to reveal a laced glove "-to a duel."

Before Dom could say a single word, the glove hit the ground at his feet, sending up a small cloud of dust.

"A fight until the first blood to begin at sunset tonight to defend the pureness of his lady Elaine's honor."

"Oh." Dom felt like smacking himself in the face. Elaine of Rosehead was the women that Kel had caught him with at the Own's drunken party. Why hadn't he guessed that she would be married? And to a husband who was so devoted. Why did the gods give him such bad luck?

"That is all, sir. Isaac suggested that you say your final prayers to Mithros and the Goddess before then. I will warn you now, he is not one to follow the rules."

The messenger hurried away, leaving Dom staring numbly at the glove buried in the dirt before him. He could fend off half mad Scanran raiders and hold his own against the Lady Knight. Surely dueling against a nobleman would be no problem at all.

***

"It's always you!" Neal fumed, glaring at his cousin. After the encounter on the training field, Dom had gone straight to the healer's office and copped himself an earful. "Why can't you just sit around and be a good little soldier for _once_ in your life.

"Because that would be boring. Now I have two questions for you, well…they are more like two last wishes. Since I told you about this duel, do you agree to help me if it gets out of control? And have you seen Kel?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second. I heard that she went out for a ride with the leader of the new refugees."

Dom nodded, of course she would do that, it was only commonsense to get to know the people with power. But why did his stomach knot into an angry ball at the thought of it?

"You're hopless. Where are all the _thanks_? The _you're wonderful, Neal, I'll just go grab a bag of uncut diamonds to pay you with, Neal_."

"What?" Dom looked up at his cousin's frustrated expression, noticing the glare that setting sun cast across the room through the window. "Oh, yeah. Thanks Meathead."

Neal sighed and patted Dom's arm. "You should really get going. And if that nobleman somehow manages to put a mark on you, I promise that I will nurse you back to health _again_."

Dom nodded, his stomach tightening horribly and rising into his throat as he stepped from his cousin's office and out onto the training field. The fight hadn't even started and there was already a crowd forming a ragged circle around a furious nobleman.

Isaac of Rosehead was not as overdressed as Dom had expected him to be. He wore a plain shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a pair of neat riding pants and well-worn leather boots. The only thing that gave away his supposed wealth was the sword that he held loosely in his right hand. The jewel encrusted hilt alone would be worth a fortune at the markets in Corus.

"Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle?"

"Isaac of Rosehead, son of Lord Olaf of Rosehead?"

"My father does not think of me as his son but I will soon be back to inherit the land and house after the old crone is dead."

Dom felt his throat go dry as the man lifted his sword to point at him, the blade reflecting the red light of the setting sun. Isaac's stance was that of a nobleman, there could be no doubt about that, but he had something else to him, something that Dom did not like.

"On guard, Sergeant. You dare to trick my lady and cavort with her. Let us see what you are really made of."

_Blood and guts_, he thought as he drew his own sword, but hopefully no one would be seeing his insides today.

"To the first blood." Dom growled, launching himself forward to take the attack and hopefully catch the older man off guard. Isaac let out a feral laugh and parried his blow easily.

"Is that the best you have Masbolle? Do you hide behind your men when there is a battle or do you just run away like the mongrel you are?"

Dom launched himself forward again, angling his blade so that it would slip past his opponents and slice his sword arm. Just before he could deliver his strike, he heard a sharp snick and turned his attention towards Isaac's other hand. He had pulled a hunting knife from the waist of his pants, the blade vicious and serrated, made for cutting through the hide and bones of deer. If Dom continued his move he would be at the mercy of that knife.

He pivoted away quickly, spinning until he faced Isaac again and holding his sword in a double handed guard position. "Is that what you call fair fighting Rosehead? Stabbing a man through the ribs when he has his back turned?"

"I never said anything about a fair fight in my message. This is till the first blood, and if the first blood happens to be straight from a hole in your heart then so be it."

Isaac barreled forwards, his moves growing less pompous and increasingly savage. Dom blocked and parried the two blades the best he could with one blade. How stupid he was for leaving his other weapons in his quarters that morning. Isaac tripped and he spotted an opening, darting forwards to slice his sword across the man's shoulder.

"Till the first blood," he panted, lowering his sword and guard as Isaac stared in disbelief at the dark liquid seeping through his shirt. "I believe that I have won this duel."

The nobleman snorted and bowed his head slightly before spinning away in contempt. Dom had just finished breathing a sigh of relief when he felt something sharp and cold connect with the back of his right thigh. He swore and collapsed to the ground as the muscles and tendons were sliced clean through.

"Isaac!" Someone gasped from the crowd, a woman's voice. "He won, you can't do that!"

Dom turned the best he could, gripping his leg that throbbed with white-hot blinding pain. Isaac of Rosehead stood behind him, his fancy sword back in its equally fancy sheath, but the vicious hunting knife was held tightly in his white knuckled hand. The man leaned down towards Dom, the knife between the two in case the sergeant decided to retaliate. In a whispery voice that definitely wasn't his own, Isaac moaned out seven words. "Our beloved Lord Scar sends his regards."

**E.N Yay! A new bad guy *grins* This is going to get interesting from here.**

Now, I hope you enjoyed reading that and sorry for any random mistakes, I tried to throw it together as quick as I could because I felt guilty for leaving you all hanging for so long. Now it would **seriously **make my day/week if I got 10 reviews, but after what happened with the last chapter I won't ask for such a high number so that this wont be left for another five months. So I'm asking - begging - for **8 **reviews again before I update. It's not really a huge ask if you consider the fact that **30+ **people have this on their alerts (which I am extremely grateful for) so, if you want to see what happens to our poor Dom *puppy dog eyes* pwease review :D lol, I'm pathetic.


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